Good tidings: Police rescue all four missing children, arrest suspects.

Stephanie Clems

It will indeed be a Christmas to remember for the neighbourhood at “down below” off Uwalaka street by Ossah road generally and particularly the three families affected directly as their all four missing children have been returned to them.

The police in Abia state said they leveraged a robust intelligence support from the department of state security to be able to arrest one Ifeoma Abonyi and seven others in Asaba Delta state.

In a press release by the command signed by the PPRO, ASP Maureen Chinaka, police also confirmed the rescue of some other seven children whose identities would be subjected to further scrutiny.

Recall that on the 14th of December, a report claimed that a new tenant of a house in Umuahia had absconded with neighbour’s children.

Meanwhile, the family of the initial missing four siblings are still hopeful that their children would be rescued somehow.

Full text of the release below:

Press Statement

Abia State Police Command Arrest Child Abductors; Rescue Missing Children

24/12/2023

1. On 16 December 2023, one Mrs. Ifeanyi Udoma Ibe (Female) of Ubakala Street, Ossai Road, Umuahia, reported the abduction of her children and her neighbors’ by an unidentified tenant. In response to the complaint, the Abia State Police Command commenced investigation into the incident. Leveraging robust technical intelligence support from the DSS in Abia state, on 22 December 2023, police detectives from Abia State Police Command, successfully apprehended one Ifeoma Abonyi, a 35-year-old female in Asaba, Delta State. Ifeoma Abonyi has been identified as the hitherto unknown tenant responsible for the abduction of the four children on 16/12/23.
2. We are happy to inform the public that all the four missing children stolen on 16 December 2023 have now been rescued. Two of the children were rescued on 22 December 2023, while another two were rescued today 24 December 2023. A total of eight suspects (five females and three males) are currently helping the Police with the investigation into the crime. Three other persons suspected to be complicit in the crime are still at large. We are intensifying efforts to ensure their arrest soonest. Meanwhile, investigation is ongoing to determine the real status of six other children that were found in the custody of the arrested suspects. This might entail the conduct of DNA tests, as some of the suspects are claiming that the children are their biological offspring. We shall keep the public informed of the outcome of the investigation as soon as possible.

SIGNED:

ASP Maureen Chinaka LLB Anipr
Police Public Relations Officer
For: The Commissioner of Police
Abia State Command